For Case Managers

For your convenience, we have created a printable brochure full of helpful information on work-related back injuries, and how to quickly and safely return to work.View Brochure

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than one million workers suffer back injuries each year. Further, one-fourth of all compensation indemnity claims involve back injuries, costing industry billions of dollars on top of the pain and suffering from those with work-related back injury.

Another staggering fact: 5% of the people with back-pain related disability account for 75% of the costs associated with low-back pain.

The Reading Neck and Spine Center recognizes the complex requirements of managing on-the-job back or neck injury. While all those with back or neck pain symptoms want to get back to activity, the issues become far more complex when a person has a work-related back or neck injury.

“Treatment of the back pain needs to be accelerated and compressed when the person has an on-the-job injury,” explains Dr. David Abraham. “In a sense, treatment of occupational injury is similar to the requirements of an injured athlete. When a baseball shortstop has a shoulder injury, the team wants the player back on the field as fast as possible.”

“When an employer loses a valued member of their team because of a back or neck injury, they too want that person back in the workplace as fast as possible, but also not so soon that they injure themselves again,” Dr. Abraham adds. “Secondly, if treatment and rehab will take several months, the employer needs to know that quickly as well because they will need to fill the position temporarily so they don’t lose company productivity.”

The other issues involved with work-related back or neck injury, is that the employer and the employer’s insurance company may have an economic responsibility that can be extremely expensive.

The Reading Neck and Spine Center works closely with the injured worker, the employer, the insurance adjuster and the case manager to provide accurate diagnosis of the injury, the most likely cause of it, and the most appropriate treatment for the person.

The spine center has a work comp liaison to help case managers get the most current information on a case. Those patients who suffer from back or neck pain often have to drive around town, from physician office to diagnostic center and therapy center. The Reading Neck & Spine Center, however, combines a fellowship-trained spine surgeon; a pain management physician who specializes in interventional spinal injections; an occupational medicine physician; X-ray; affiliated spine therapists; and an exercise gym — all under one roof. The spine center approach greatly improves coordination of care.

This coordination is especially crucial for work-related back or neck injury. Those with on-the-job back injury require diagnosis and treatment plans to be accelerated because of the impact on employers and their desire to get the employee back to activity. Specific to on-the-job back or neck injury, Reading Neck and Spine Center physicians work closely with employers and case manager RNs in Central Pennsylvania to help those with back and neck pain recover and return to activity and their jobs.

Recognizing that work-related injury needs to be addressed promptly, we typically provide quick appointments for those with on-the-job injury.

The Reading Neck & Spine Center emphasizes conservative care and the most prudent surgical recommendations, including minimally invasive spine surgery. Many surgical patients, for instance, can have their surgery at the nearby Surgical Institute of Reading and be home later the same day. We are also tracking data and will be producing a Clinical Outcome Report Card for referring physicians, case managers and health insurance companies in 2017.

If you would like to refer a patient to our occ med specialist; our pain management physician for injections; or to me for surgical consultation at The Reading Neck & Spine Center, you can call us at 610-372-1140. We will update you on our findings and treatment recommendations provided to the patient.

The Reading Neck and Spine Center has developed a front/back Mini-Brochure containing valuable information for patients, referral sources, and case managers. The Mini-Brochure provides information about The Reading Neck and Spine Center, treatment for work related injuries, physician biographies, and resources for how to get back to life in 2016.

The Surgical Institute of Reading (SIR) is a physician-owned hospital. ALL OF THE ROOMS ARE PRIVATE at no additional cost to you. The nursing care at SIR is second to none with a high nurse to patient ratio. The Surgical Institute of Reading maintains approval by the Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation, and a doctor is in-house 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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